Dedham's Matthew Jameson to take part on Tournament of Roses Parade

Friday

Dedham resident Matthew Jameson will head to Pasadena, Calif., to partake in the iconic Rose Parade on New Year’s Day.

Dedham resident Matthew Jameson will head to Pasadena, Calif., to partake in the iconic Rose Parade on New Year’s Day.

Jameson will ride atop Easterseals’ first-time float entry, “Celebrating Easterseals: 100 Years of Disability Services.” The float honors the organization’s 100th anniversary of providing disability services, and its dedication to building a more inclusive future.

Jameson is one of just nine Easterseals clients and three staff members selected from 70 affiliates across the country to take part in the annual parade as a representation of the diverse Easterseals communities throughout the country.

Jameson, 21, has been involved with Easterseals Massachusetts since 2014 as a youth leader and advocate. Born with mild spastic diplegic cerebral palsy, he is passionate about disability rights. As a member of the organization’s Youth Leadership Network, he has spoken about supporting disability youth services at the Massachusetts State House and acted as delegate and peer leader at the Massachusetts Youth Leadership Forum.

After noting the success of the Easterseals’ empowerment and support program for females with disabilities, Jameson was instrumental in starting Easterseals’ mentorship program for males with disabilities. He is also involved with the organizations’ board of directors as the youth voice, ensuring the organization continues to empower youth with disabilities. Easterseals Massachusetts Youth Services Manager Desi Forte will also join Jameson for the trip.

“Celebrating Easterseals: 100 Years of Disability Services” will be a floral display to celebrate the 1.5 million people Easterseals provides disability services to each year nationwide. A 20-foot-tall birthday cake iced in crisp white coconut flakes and lined with more than 3,000 hot pink Princess roses will serve as the centerpiece of the float. Flickering 100th anniversary candles and images of people with and without disabilities joined together near a swirl of orange and yellow marigolds and gold strawflower complete the floral cake.

To celebrate Easterseals’ vision of building a more inclusive future for the more than 61 million Americans with disabilities, playfully wrapped packages on the float will highlight the organization’s breadth of exceptional services to make sure people with disabilities have every opportunity to “live”, “learn”, “work”, and “play” in their communities.

Paul Medeiros, president and CEO of Easterseals Massachusetts, said “it’s wonderful to see such collaboration amongst the Easterseals affiliates for this incredible celebration of our shared longevity in the disability movement. In fact, one of the things often overlooked about Easterseals is our ability to share resources, innovations, and best practices so that we are always improving our approach to disability services.”

The 2019 Rose Parade presented by Honda will air on Jan. 1, 2019m on NBC at 11 a.m. EST To learn more about Easterseals services or to stay up-to-date on upcoming events, please visit www.eastersealsma.org.